Components - Variable message signs (VMS)

Variable message signs inform travelers about upcoming freeway
conditions. Signs display current travel times to strategic areas
around the city. Signs also display information about lane and ramp
closures and where delays start and end.

There are currently 20 variable message signs located on the
Milwaukee-area freeway system, 12 on side streets, and two special
event signs.

The freeway variable message sign faces are about six feet high
and 24 feet wide. The sign face consists of rows and columns of
round dots approximately two inches in diameter. The dots in most
signs are reflective disks with holes through which fiber optic
bundles or LED clusters direct light. The disks are flipped to turn
their backs to traffic when switched off. "On" and
"off" dots are mixed across the sign face to display words
and symbols.

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Questions about the content of this page:
Traffic Operations Center, statewide.toc@dot.wi.gov
Last modified: August 1, 2012

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